Following the news that the US Navy has laid out a vision where both unmanned surface vessels and unmanned underwater vessels  will form an integral part of future navy deployments;

James Marques, Associate Aerospace, Defence and Security Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Employing drones as part of its fleet promises to be a cheaper path for the US to exceed its current goal of 335 ships—a new ambition set by the Biden administration in the face of rising competition from China.

“The drones will introduce more firepower to the fleet at a fraction of the cost and with minimal risk to life—an attractive prospect to any navy. The unmanned surface vessel market alone will be worth $3 billion by 2031, according to GlobalData’s report ‘Future of Unmanned Vehicles in Defense’. The sustainment programs necessary to maintain drone fleets and their networks will create attractive contract opportunities.

“Contracts signed with established shipbuilding firms such as Huntington Ingalls and unmanned systems experts such as Lockheed Martin, who benefit from prior close cooperation with the navy to work on innovative weapons.These companies are refining the platforms to meet the requirements needed for operation within carrier strike groups – which indicates the faith being placed by the US in using drones to form a core part of its power projection. The contracts call for a gradual and phased approach to implementing new technologies and capabilities on the drone ships.”

“This cautious approach stems from lessons learnt over a previous troubled procurement program for the Zumwalt-class destroyers, with the Navy calling it an ‘evolutionary, rather than revolutionary’ approach – and it also better prepares them to integrate a new networked warfare approach to operations at sea.

“A wireless networking effort named Project Overmatch ties in closely to these new unmanned systems. It will connect unmanned systems to the crewed vessels, easing the flow of combat-relevant information that will enhance the decision making of autonomous systems. It indicates the vital role of computing power in future warfare.”